The document said criminals may have been "encouraged" by the reduction in police staffing numbers and a fall in prosecution rates.

It comes after ministers, including Home Secretary Amber Rudd, denied that the decline in the number of police officers was a reason for the rise in violent crime.

3:01

Video:Govt says violent attacks across London have nothing to do with police cuts

The document, Serious Violence; Latest Evidence On The Drivers, which was obtained by The Guardian, said: "Since 2012/3, weighted crime demand on the police has risen, largely due to growth in recorded sex offences.

"At the same time officers' numbers have fallen by 5% since 2014.

"So resources dedicated to serious violence have come under pressure and charge rates have dropped.

Commenting on that figure, Ms Rudd had said in The Sunday Telegraph: "In the early Noughties, when serious violent crimes were at their highest, police numbers were rising.

"In 2008, when knife crime was far greater than the lows we saw in 2013-14, police numbers were close to the highest we'd seen in decades.

"So while I understand that police are facing emerging threats and new pressures - leading us to increase total investment in policing - the evidence does not bear out claims that resources are to blame for rising violence."

Policing Minister Nick Hurd had told the BBC that the system was "stretched" but insisted it was "categorically not the case" that a cut in officer numbers was behind the rise in violent crime.

2:45

Video:Tackling London's violent crime surge

Communities Secretary Sajid Javid had also told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show: "For anyone to suggest that this is caused by police numbers, it is not backed up by the facts."

Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott said: "If true, this blows apart the Tories' repeated claims that their cuts have had no effect.

"Cuts reduce police effectiveness and their ability to apprehend criminals. It also undermines the reassurance and deterrent effect that a police presence can have.

"If the Government's own serious violence strategy accepts that police cuts have had an effect, why can't the Government itself?"